had lost it. Maybe she was actually locked up in a facility somewhere, ensnared in a straight jacket, babbling away to herself.
No. The fresh smell out here was real. Large trees lined the road, lacing the air with the scent of pine. She followed the paved road until it gradually turned into dirt and stopped at a large iron gate. She hopped out of the car and cursed like a drunk pirate. A rusty padlock secured the gateway. With both hands on the black bars, she shook the gate violently but it wouldn’t budge. She looked up, estimated the gate to be a few meters high, and sighed. The pointy black spikes at the top put her off climbing the fence, and besides, she didn’t want to leave her convertible alone outside. She huffed and stormed back to her car.
Staring at the gate from behind her steering wheel didn’t do much to help the situation. She hadn’t quite mastered her Jedi mind tricks yet.
She leaned over and rummaged on the passenger side floor for her drink bottle. Her hand happened upon the wooden box from her grandmother. An urge to open the box overcame her. She shrugged, and thought why the hell not? As she lifted the lid her eyes widened; a blue light spilled from the leather pouch. She picked up the pouch and turned it upside down. The most luminous round moonstone sphere landed in the middle of her palm. The blue light it emanated pulsed and cast a blue shadow on Brenna’s palm. She brought it close to her eyes to get a better look when a high-pitched squeak almost pierced her eardrums. She nearly dropped the stone as her eyes shot forward and watched in disbelief as the padlock on the gate fell to the ground and the heavy black gate opened as if an unseen hand was moving it. She put the mysterious stone back in the box and stared at the open gate. There didn’t seem to be a motorized panel or anything that could explain the gate opening by itself. She thought about turning the car around and going back home, but before she knew it, she was turning the key in the ignition and moving forward.
The gate groaned shut behind her. Baffled, Brenna decided to embrace the strangeness and followed the dirt path until she came to a dead end. She stopped the car and stepped out. Leaves and twigs crunched underfoot. The smell of damp soil and moss surrounded her. Each breath made her feel lighter like she was inhaling happy drugs. She dug her bag and the box out of the car and locked it with a bleep.
She walked past a couple of trees and found herself engulfed by forest almost straightaway. She turned around and could no longer see her car. It was like she’d fallen through a portal to a faraway land. Unfamiliar but enchanting chirps from unseen birds sounded from above. Branches snapped as she continued crunching her way through the thick carpet of fallen leaves and other assorted bits. The dirt path was no longer existent. Goddess knew the last time somebody had walked where she walked now. She wondered if the phone in her purse would have any signal and couldn’t help but shiver.
The serenity was broken by a feisty wind that picked up leaves and swirled them into the air. Brenna’s hair blew all around, obscuring her vision. All sound was drowned out by a ghostly chanting and her hair suddenly flew away from her face and shot out backward like a high-powered fan from a movie set had been aimed at her. She dropped the box, put her hands out in front of her face, shielding it from the gusty wind. The ghostly chanting became louder and the forest grew dark. She tried to follow the chanting but it seemed to be surrounding her, coming from all directions. Then she bent down, picked up the box, and ran through the trees with her hair whipping at her cheeks.
The chanting followed Brenna through the trees and stopped as she passed an ancient tree with a pentagram engraved into it. She stopped and turned back to the tree. She ran her finger over the carving of the five-pointed star and felt warm tingles buzz up and down her arms. It was the same carving Rowena had seen near Hawthorn’s cottage. She was sure of it.
She turned right and found the little cottage a few minutes